Temporal Progression of Pneumonic Plague in Blood of Nonhuman Primate: A Transcriptomic Analysis.

Early identification of impending illness during widespread exposure to a pathogenic agent offers a potential means to initiate treatment during a timeframe when it would be most likely to be effective and has the potential to identify novel therapeutic strategies. The latter could be critical, especially as antibiotic resistance is becoming widespread. In order to examine pre-symptomatic illness, African green monkeys were challenged intranasally with aerosolized Yersinia pestis strain CO92 and blood samples were collected in short intervals from 45 m till 42 h post-exposure. Presenting one of the first genomic investigations of a NHP model challenged by pneumonic plague, whole genome analysis was annotated in silico and validated by qPCR assay. Transcriptomic profiles of blood showed early perturbation with the number of differentially expressed genes increasing until 24 h. By then, Y. pestis had paralyzed the host defense, as suggested by the functional analyses. Early activation of the apoptotic networks possibly facilitated the pathogen to overwhelm the defense mechanisms, despite the activation of the pro-inflammatory mechanism, toll-like receptors and microtubules at the port-of-entry. The overexpressed transcripts encoding an early pro-inflammatory response particularly manifested in active lymphocytes and ubiquitin networks were a potential deviation from the rodent models, which needs further verification. In summary, the present study recognized a pattern of Y. pestis pathogenesis potentially more applicable to the human system. Independent validation using the complementary omics approach with comprehensive evaluation of the organs, such as lungs which showed early bacterial infection, is essential.

Highly effective generic adjuvant systems for orphan or poverty-related vaccines.

Safe and effective adjuvants are needed for many vaccines with limited commercial appeal, such as vaccines to infrequent (orphan) diseases or to neglected and poverty-related diseases. Here we found that three nonproprietary liposome formulations containing monophosphoryl lipid A each induced 3-fold to 5-fold increased titers of binding and neutralizing antibodies to anthrax protective antigen compared to aluminum hydroxide-adsorbed antigen in monkeys. All vaccinated monkeys were protected against lethal challenge with aerosolized Ames strain spores.

Rapid and sensitive detection of Yersinia pestis using amplification of plague diagnostic bacteriophages monitored by real-time PCR.

BACKGROUND: Yersinia pestis, the agent of plague, has caused many millions of human deaths and still poses a serious threat to global public health. Timely and reliable detection of such a dangerous pathogen is of critical importance. Lysis by specific bacteriophages remains an essential method of Y. pestis detection and plague diagnostics. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The objective of this work was to develop an alternative to conventional phage lysis tests--a rapid and highly sensitive method of indirect detection of live Y. pestis cells based on quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) monitoring of amplification of reporter Y. pestis-specific bacteriophages. Plague diagnostic phages phiA1122 and L-413C were shown to be highly effective diagnostic tools for the detection and identification of Y. pestis by using qPCR with primers specific for phage DNA. The template DNA extraction step that usually precedes qPCR was omitted. phiA1122-specific qPCR enabled the detection of an initial bacterial concentration of 10(3) CFU/ml (equivalent to as few as one Y. pestis cell per 1-microl sample) in four hours. L-413C-mediated detection of Y. pestis was less sensitive (up to 100 bacteria per sample) but more specific, and thus we propose parallel qPCR for the two phages as a rapid and reliable method of Y. pestis identification. Importantly, phiA1122 propagated in simulated clinical blood specimens containing EDTA and its titer rise was detected by both a standard plating test and qPCR. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Thus, we developed a novel assay for detection and identification of Y. pestis using amplification of specific phages monitored by qPCR. The method is simple, rapid, highly sensitive, and specific and allows the detection of only live bacteria.

Novel antimicrobial peptides that exhibit activity against select agents and other drug resistant bacteria.

One of the greatest challenges facing modern medicine is the evolution of drug resistant strains of bacteria. In addition to traditional methods of exposure to traditional bacterial organisms there is a growing concerned of the use of bacteria as bio-terrorism agents. To counter the evolution of drug resistant and potential bio-terrorism bacterial agents new antibiotic drugs must be developed. One potential source of new therapeutic agents that act via a novel mechanism of action are natural and synthetic antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). In our laboratories we have developed a series of AMPs incorporating the un-natural amino acids Tic-Oic to impart organism selectivity and potency while increasing metabolic stability. Herein the in vitro activity of these peptides, including ten new compounds, against eight potential bio-terrorism bacterial agents and three other bacterial strains is presented and discussed. These peptides exhibit a wide range of organism potency and selectivity. Calcein fluorescence leakage and circular dichroism studies were conducted to confirm that these peptides interact with zwitterionic and anionic liposomes.

HSP-70 mitigates LPS/SKI-induced cell damage by increasing sphingosine kinase 1 (SK1).

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are potent protectors of cellular integrity against environmental stresses, including toxic microbial products. To investigate the mechanism of HSP-70 cell protection against bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), we established a stable HSP-70 gene-transfected RAW 264.7 murine macrophage model of LPS-induced cell death. Bacterial LPS increases the activity of sphingosine kinase 1 (SK1), which catalyzes formation of sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P). S1P functions as a critical signal for initiation and maintenance of diverse aspects of immune cell activation and function. When mouse macrophages were incubated with Escherichia coli LPS (1 microg/ml) and sphingosine kinase inhibitor (SKI, 5 microM), 90% of cells died. Neither LPS nor SKI alone at these doses damaged the cells. The LPS/SKI-induced cell death was partially reversed by overexpression of HSP-70 in gene-transfected macrophages. The specificity of HSP-70 in this reversal was demonstrated by transfection of HSP-70-specific siRNA. Down-regulation of HSP-70 expression after transfection of siRNA specific for HSP-70 was associated with increased LPS/SKI-induced cell damage. Overexpression of human or murine HSP-70 (HSPA1A and Hspa1a, respectively) increased both cellular SK1 mRNA and protein levels. Cellular heat shock also increased SK1 protein. These studies confirm the importance of SK1 as a protective moiety in LPS-induced cell injury and demonstrate that HSP-70-mediated protection from cells treated with LPS/SKI is accompanied by upregulating expression of SK1. HSP-70-mediated increases in SK1 and consequent increased levels of S1P may also play a role in protection of cells from other processes that lead to programmed cell death.

Pathologic changes associated with brucellosis experimentally induced by aerosol exposure in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta).

OBJECTIVE: To develop an aerosol exposure method for induction of brucellosis in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). ANIMALS: 10 adult rhesus macaques. PROCEDURE: 8 rhesus macaques were challenge exposed with 10(2) to 10(5) colony-forming units of Brucella melitensis 16M by use of an aerosol-exposure technique, and 2 served as control animals. All macaques were euthanatized 63 days after challenge exposure. Gross and microscopic lesions, bacterial burden in target organs, and histologic changes in tissues were evaluated. RESULTS: Grossly, spleen weights were increased in exposed macaques, compared with spleen weights in control macaques. Histologically, there was inflammation in the liver, kidneys, spleen, testes, and epididymides in exposed macaques. The spleen and lymph nodes had increased numbers of lymphohistiocytic cells. Morphometrically, the spleen also had an increased ratio of white pulp to red pulp. Areas of hepatitis and amount of splenic white pulp increased with increasing exposure dose. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Pathologic findings in rhesus macaques after aerosol exposure to B melitensis are similar to those observed in humans with brucellosis. IMPACT FOR HUMAN MEDICINE: These results may aid in the development of a vaccine against brucellosis that can be used in humans.